According to the Financial Times (FT), the rejection rate of 50% of substandard iPhone cases made in India. It’s shows Apple’s difficulty in breaking away from the supply chain in China.
Apple has always been known as a perfectionist. The defect rate with the iPhone case that the company aims to be is 0% and what Chinese suppliers currently do is close to this number.
The disparity between the two countries is giving Apple a headache in accelerating. its plan to reduce its dependence on partners in China.
According to FT sources, at a Tata iPhone case factory in Hosur (India). Only one out of every two finished products is qualified to be sent to Foxconn for iPhone assembly.
This 50% ratio is very far from the target that Apple wants. Two employees who used to work for Apple in India. Said that the Hosur factory is working to improve efficiency, but the road ahead is still very difficult.
Contrary to the disappointing performance, another former Apple employee who worked in China said it took suppliers only a few days to fulfill a contract that needed products within a few weeks. This employee also shared that Chinese suppliers started working just one day after receiving the request.
According to Indian technology entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa, it will take about three years for Indian suppliers to catch up with Chinese chains’ productivity and production quality.
“Local officials are doing everything to attract industrial capital and they will do what China has done. But these are still early steps. Apple is also groping in India to understand what is possible. Maybe, what is impossible here? After three years, you will see the scale expand,” said Mr. Wadhwa.
This businessman also thinks that Apple should adapt to India when the business environment here is completely different from the rest of the world. “Everything in India is a barrier,” the businessman admits.
